Chalk Dust and Future Dreams
by soymilklatte
Summary: The Doctor spends an afternoon with Tony.


It was proving to be a bright and sunny, yet hot and humid day, in London. Pete was at Torchwood as he was on most days and Jackie and Rose were off shopping. Jackie had phoned earlier that morning claiming that now that she knew she was pregnant with a girl she needed all new furniture and décor for the nursery. Rose and the Doctor knew that Jackie could hire the best decorators in London to do the work for her but she insisted that Rose accompany her on this outing. Rose could hardly say no (and she wouldn't have done so anyway) as she and the Doctor were hardly in London anymore.

When they had first been left together after Bad Wolf Bay they had returned to London even though they both knew they didn't want to stay in one place. Their plan had been to sell Rose's flat and purchase a house with an enclosed out-building where they could safely grow the TARDIS coral. Whilst they waited for their TARDIS to grow, the two of them travelled all over Europe. They had wanted to see more of the world but they didn't want to be away from the baby TARDIS for too long either.

Now however, five years later, with a TARDIS capable of travelling through time and space, the two of them never stood still. They did visit Jackie and Pete and Tony regularly but their home was amongst the stars.

So, with Pete at work and Jackie and Rose off who knows where for who knows how long, this left the Doctor and Tony to their own devices. It was a perfect arrangement for the two of them since they were best mates. The best mates in question were currently splashing around in the pool playing and keeping cool as best they could on this hot and sticky day.

It was time for lunch when they both finally left the water, dripping wet and skin prickling, they dried off quickly and headed inside. The Doctor and Tony changed into clean clothes and headed downstairs to eat. It was whilst they were enjoying their sandwiches that they began to discuss how to spend their afternoon.

Tony, much like his big sister, loved art and was always drawing or painting. It was his favourite way to spend his time. It was over lunch when Tony mentioned to the Doctor that he had gotten some new art supplies and that he hadn't yet had a chance to try them. Once they finished their sandwiches the two of them headed into Tony's room to get the supplies – sidewalk chalk – before going back outside.

They had three boxes of sidewalk chalk and were considering where to best display their artistic talents. It was decided that the driveway in front of and leading up to the house was the best spot as it had the most trees and therefore offered the most protection from the sun.

Once chosen the two headed to the front of the house and sat down to start their masterpieces. They had decided on, predictably, a space theme. There were stars and planets, spaceships of all shapes and sizes, and of course, dozens of different alien species. Fairly accurate aliens as well since both the Doctor and Tony knew countless species to recreate and pay homage to.

They were in the middle of a battle scene of rather epic proportions, in their opinion, when Pete's car came up the drive.

"Dad! Look what me and the Doctor made," shouted the excited five year old.

Pete stooped down to give Tony a hug, "Yes, I see. Very impressive. I'm sure your mum will be thrilled since we're hosting a party tonight." That last bit was directed to the Doctor who merely shrugged in response.

Pete shook his head, "Do you mind making sure he's cleaned up for dinner so I can go make some calls?"

"Nope. Tony and I will finish up here and head inside," said an unrepentant and grinning Doctor.

"Thanks."

Finishing up took almost another hour but eventually the two cleaned up their supplies and headed back into the house. The Doctor was helping Tony choose his jimjams for the night as well as his bedtime story and bath toys when they heard another car pull up and a somewhat shrill voice, in the Doctor's opinion, exclaim, "Oh my god, would you look at this! Rose, we're having a party tonight for the Vitex stockholders and their partners and this is what's going to greet them!"

The Doctor was sure he heard barely concealed amusement in Rose's voice as she responded, "It's not that bad, mum. They know you and Pete have a young son, not to mention, another on the way. Some of them must have kids themselves. Besides, you have to admit the artwork is pretty impressive for sidewalk chalk. Oh, look, there's the TARDIS and I think that's supposed to be Woman Wept."

"You're just as bad as he is, you know that, don't you?"

Rose smiled brightly, "I certainly hope so."

"Impossible. The two of you," Jackie shook her head, giving up. "Help get this stuff inside, yeah?"

"Of course."

The Doctor and Tony were heading back downstairs when Rose and Jackie came in through the kitchen door. Rose placed the bags on the table and gave both of them a quick kiss before an excited Tony ran to his mum to tell her all about his day.

"Yes, love. I did see your art. It's lovely and just the thing to make the drive look ready for a party," Jackie spoke the words with a soft smile for Tony but the glare in her eyes was clearly aimed at the Doctor and a silently giggling Rose.

Giving in Jackie simply sighed and asked, "Are you two off again or will we see you tonight?"

Tony jumped in before anyone could answer, "Doctor said he would play spacemen and dinosaurs with me after my bath and read me two stories."

Both Rose and Jackie looked at the Doctor, "Well, I did promise and I suppose there will be nibbles at this party, yeah?"

"Yes."

The Doctor was nonchalant, "Then of course we'll be here."

Rose shook her head in bemusement, "Okay then, mum, we're going to go home and get ready and I suppose we'll see you later."

In the car, on the way back to their house, Rose spoke up, "Thank you for that and for today."

"No need to thank me, love. One of my favourite things to do is spending time with Tony and I know you and your mum miss each other. So, you two can spend some more time together and I can spend more time with Tony."

"Do you ever think about," she trailed off, unsure how to ask what was on her mind.

"What?"

"Having kids of our own. I mean, we never planned to get married, it just kind of happened. We travel, everywhere really, but we never make plans. Don't misunderstand I love our life and I don't want it to change. It's just..."

"Just," he prompted.

"Sometimes, I think us having kids might be brilliant."

"I think so too sometimes."

"Really?"

"Yep. I think about little versions of me and you running around time and space. Maybe even being born on different planets. Learning everything about life and history and the universe first hand. They'd have the best education of anyone in the universe. I just like the way that life looks in my head."

"So do I."

The pulled into their drive and the Doctor turned to look at her, "Are we thinking about this as a real thing now? Not just a fantasy?"

Rose smiled, "I think we are."

The Doctor smiled too, "Brilliant. But could we maybe not mention anything to your mum yet?"

She laughed, "I think that might be for the best." She went to get out of the car, "C'mon. Let's go get ready for the party tonight."

"Yeah. Right. Of course. We have plenty of time to decide on names later."

Rose laughed as she took his hand and they headed into their house.


End file.
